1 Samuel 9 Saul enters the scene. In these new circumstances Samuel’s character shines with incomparable brilliance. God had said to him: “Make them a king”; Samuel still waits to establish this king until God points him out. This is the true character of a servant: dependence in obedience, such as was seen in the Lord at the death of Lazarus (John 11:6). This is all the more striking here as Samuel is rendering service in a matter which is repugnant to him, but if God is dealing in this way, how could Samuel do otherwise? God puts Himself at His people’s service in order to choose a king according to man’s principles for them. Indeed He says in Hosea 13:11: “I gave thee a king in Mine anger, and took him away in My wrath,” but if God so acts in judgment on His people, it is no less true that He also has a purpose of grace. “And he will save My people out of the hand of the Philistines; for I have looked upon My people, because their cry is come unto Me” (1 Sam. 9:16).
On the other hand, this choice put Israel to the test. In the flesh they had asked for a king according to the flesh; neither God nor Samuel raised an obstacle to this request; on the contrary, God chooses the most excellent person that the flesh could desire, and Samuel acknowledges him as such: “On whom is all the desire of Israel set? Is it not on thee?” (1 Sam. 9:20).
Saul possesses all the natural qualities of a leader of the people. He is strong and valiant, handsome, tall, a choice man. (1 Sam. 9:1-2). His moral qualities are no less remarkable: he is subject and affectionate toward his father (1 Sam. 9:5), disposed to listen to the counsel of his inferiors (1 Sam. 9:10), little in his own eyes, whether it be in his tribe or in his family (1 Sam. 9:21). If the trial that God is about to make does not succeed with such a man, it is definitely because man’s condition in general leaves no hope.
Let us add that without this trial of the king according to the flesh the ways of God toward David, His anointed, would not have been complete. What would have become of David’s sufferings and affliction, the necessary prelude to his glory, if Saul had not been raised up?
Let us now return to Samuel’s lovely character. In the preceding chapters he prays, he intercedes, he consults the Lord; here we see him in a relationship of even greater intimacy with God. In him, God realizes what we find in Psalm 32:8: “I will instruct thee and teach thee the way in which thou shalt go; I will counsel thee with Mine eye upon thee.” Whereas Saul is only a blind instrument in God’s designs, Samuel is conscious of them, and is the confidant of His secret. “Now Jehovah had apprised Samuel one day before Saul came, saying, Tomorrow about this time I will send thee a man out of the land of Benjamin, and thou shalt anoint him prince over My people Israel” (1 Sam. 9:15-16). This communication is given to him without his request. Nothing comes from him; he receives the thoughts of God directly, without any intermediary: “Behold the man of whom I spoke to thee! this man shall rule over My people” (1 Sam. 9:17). Samuel is conscious of his gift (1 Sam. 9:19), but it is in order to communicate the mind of God to Saul. Before Saul met him, Samuel had already appointed his portion beforehand (1 Sam. 9:23).
There was no jealousy, when he might have resented the elders setting him aside; God’s will is enough for him, and he rejoices in it. The establishment of a king according to the flesh is an evil, but Samuel had learned in communion with the Lord not to oppose evil when God Himself did not oppose it: something that is certainly difficult to learn.
Notice again in this chapter how even the most insignificant events work together toward the establishment of God’s designs, of the goal He has in mind: the loss of the asses, Saul’s useless efforts in the land of Israel, the thought that came to his servant, the maidens at the well, Samuel’s presence in the city on that day, the peace offering-indeed, every step, every decision, every word of the prophet acting in communion with His God.